The Australian Partner Visa: Why is It So Expensive?

The Australian Partner Visa: Why is It So Expensive? If you are a citizen of Australia, who has plans to marry a person who is not from Australia, then be warned, and be prepared to pay a substantial amount for your partner visa fees.

Getting a partner visa in 2016 would result to an astounding application fee of $6,865. This is actually one of the most expensive partner visa fees in the whole world.

Hitesh* spent nearly $8,000 so he could bring his wife Hetal* to Melbourne, after they got married back in 2014. He has this to say about the experience: ”If you are choosing to bring your spouse from India, you also have to factor in the partnership visa cost besides your wedding expenses.”

Hetal also had to wait quite a long period of time (a total of 11 months) before she was granted the partnership visa. She shared that they paid a total of $6,865 just for the visa. Prior to the application, they had to shell out to pay the fees for the police verification as well as the medical test.

The couple knew that if the visa was not granted, there was no way of getting back all the money they took out. This was the reason why they hired a migration agent so they can be properly assisted, even if they knew it would cost them more.

”If you include the flight cost from India to Australia, the total bill is $8,200,” said Hitesh.

The couple no longer celebrated their honeymoon just so they can cover all the visa costs.

For the same type of visa, the United Kingdom charges less than half of that amount, only AUD$ 2,428. In the United States of America, they only charge a third of the amount, AUD$ 1,477.

It was not too long ago when the fees were not as expensive as that. 5 years ago, the application fee would only cost you $1,735. The highest increase in the price was announced back in December of 2014 under the Abbott government, but it did not end there. After that, a number of further increased followed.

The Migration Place’s Mr Zeke Bentley, a migration agent, stated that the partner visa fee is the one fee that rose the fastest compared to other visa fees, as he shared that all of them have gone up, just not as high as partner visa fees.

”If there is any place where they should not be trying to gouge out an immigration fee, it is when an Australian wants their loved one to live here,” said Mr Bentley. ”It affects an Australian’s right to be with their partner.”

”They are taking advantage of people’s relationships,” he further went on to say.

The waiting period has also gone up to a minimum of 12 months. Even worse, the waiting could get longer, which is why this has become one of the most common reasons why applicants resent it so much, even more than the shocking cost.

The Department of Immigration and Border Protection, or the DIBP, stated that they are aiming to finalise at least 75 per cent of the visa applications within a year of its submission, however they run out of visas sometimes.

”Strong demand for partner visas, in excess of the number of places available in a programme year, has led to processing times exceeding the service standard in some cases,” stated a spokesperson for the department.

The immigration department also stated that applicants will gain access to Medicare benefits as soon as they submit an application, as well as permission to work in the country (in ‘most cases’) is also granted, when an application is also submitted for it.

Source: www.sbs.com.au